Govt moots privatising underperforming green schemes

By Hilary Mare

MINISTER of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform, Calle Schlettwein has said together with his counterpart, Public Enterprises minister Leon Jooste; they are busy reviewing the management model for green schemes aimed at involving private sector activities and investment.

The agriculture ministry has 11 state-owned green scheme irrigation projects across the country.

These schemes are under the management of the Agricultural Business Development Agency (AgriBusDev).

Notably, eight of these projects are under the direct operation and management of AgriBusDev in terms of production while the remaining three are leased out to the private sector through leasehold agreements as prescribed in the green scheme policy.

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